State not producing enough science grads, study confirms

Published: Saturday, November 30, 2013 at 9:08 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, November 30, 2013 at 9:08 p.m.

Florida’s public universities are producing a little more than half as many engineers, mathematicians, scientists and technicians than they need to in order to meet the demand of job growth in the next decade, according to a study presented to the Florida Board of Governors.

The report shows the state university system is way off the benchmarks set in the board’s strategic plan to increase the total number of degrees produced each year from 53,000 to 90,000.

Of greater concern is that the university system is 44 percent off its annual goal to produce 14,000 graduate degrees each year in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and 20 percent off its goal of creating 40,000 graduate degrees a year.

Now the board is wondering if those are realistic numbers. Board members are starting a dialogue they hope to resume when they meet again in January.

The board’s options are to maintain those goals or lower them to more realistic projections based on historical evidence.

“We need to get our arms around the strategic plan goals and see what adjustments we need to make,” interim Chancellor Jan Ignash said.

Based on historical growth trends, the state universities are projected to produce about 83,000 undergraduate degrees a year by 2025 — about 8 percent fewer than the 90,000 anticipated in the strategic plan. A combination of increased enrollment and the addition of Florida Polytechnic University and UF Online could help close that gap.

Enrollment increased 12 percent between 2006 and 2011, and if that trend continues, the system will produce more degrees. Also, Florida Polytechnic could start making a contribution by 2020, and UF Online is expected to have an impact by 2025.

The more problematic issue is getting the number of STEM degrees needed to meet the demand in job growth. Ignash asked the Board of Governors to consider what adjustments need to be made “to maintain credibility.”

To gear up the university system to produce those numbers would cost a statewide investment of $153 million for STEM degrees and $39 million for non-STEM degrees, Ignash told the Board of Governors.

The board’s staff recommends that the board keep both goals for STEM and for overall graduate degree production and ask for a yearly infusion of $12.75 million to “lift up” production.

Outgoing Board Chairman Dean Colson said he is concerned about whether STEM is a myth or reality after reading a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

A person with a bachelor’s degree in biology would find it hard to get a job, the article stated. And that biology degree would be a stepping stone not to a job but to a more advanced degree, the article continued.

Colson also noted that the state is losing engineers, who are graduating and going out of the state or into non-engineering fields.

In an attempt to figure out how to plot the best strategy for the university system to meet the job demands of the future, Colson formed the Commission on Florida Higher Education Access and Degree Attainment. The commission’s final report was released in November.

With Florida’s 2.75 percent growth rate, the state will have 3.6 million new people by 2025, for a total population of 23 million.

The report, funded by the Florida Legislature, provides a gap analysis of the number of degrees needed to meet the expected job growth in different categories — computer occupations, teaching, health and diagnostics, business operation specialists, lawyers, doctors, executives and media and communications workers.

The most critical areas are in computer occupations, middle school teacher retention and accounting/auditing/financial services. The study showed a projected undersupply of 2,361 degrees in computer occupations, a shortage of 1,024 middle school teachers, and 971 fewer accounting and finance degrees than will be needed.

Board member Ned C. Lautenbach said that the university system is creating doctors, but not enough residency programs in state for them to practice what they’ve learned. “They leave for residencies out of state and never come back,” he said.

Ignash said another variable is that people can choose which major they want to study. “The best thing we can do is get information out to parents that this is where the gap is,” she said.

The 2013 Legislature has earmarked $15 million in competitive funding as an incentive for universities and colleges to come up with programs that address the targeted program areas identified by the gap analysis.

The institutions must submit grant applications to the Board of Governors by February to compete for the money.

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